Today, Governor Michael L. Parson appointed Kerry Casey (Chesterfield) to the State Board of Education. Casey currently serves as Vice President of Exegy, a global leader in financial market data, trading platforms, and predictive signals, where she is responsible for Global Sales Operations and Enablement. In addition to her role with Exegy, Casey is a founding board member of the KIPP Charter School in St. Louis and continues to serve on the board of directors.

Riverview Gardens Special Administrative Board

The State Board of Education (State Board) authorized the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to request the Secretary of State and Joint Committee on Administrative Rules allow the new amendment to the certification process for substitute teachers (5 CSR 20-400.220) to take effect in early November instead of December 31, 2021.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), in partnership with philanthropic organization rootEd Alliance, today launched a statewide initiative to ensure high school students, particularly those in rural communities, have an advisor exclusively focused on helping them achieve success following graduation.

Missouri’s eight Gold Star Schools for 2021 have also been recognized as U.S. Department of Education (USED) National Blue Ribbon Schools. The National Blue Ribbon Schools program recognizes individual schools for either their outstanding academic achievement (top 15 percent in the state based on English and mathematics assessment scores and graduation rates) or their performance at high academic levels while serving a significant proportion of disadvantaged students.

Missouri’s 2021 National Blue Ribbon Schools include:

James Young, a Musical Theatre, Vocal Music, and Guitar teacher at the Johnson-Wabash 6th Grade Center in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, was selected by a committee of his peers and education partners across the state as the 2022 Missouri Teacher of the Year. He becomes the 53^rd Missouri Teacher of the Year since the program’s inception in 1957, and he is the first recipient from the Ferguson-Florissant School District.